“Well, Mr Leslie,” inquired the mate, “is there any chance of our coming at that medicine-chest? To speak plainly, I don’t half like the look of the skipper, and that’s a fact. It ain’t natural for a man to lie like that, hour a’ter hour, without movin’; and the sooner we can bring him back to his senses, the better I shall be pleased.”
“Yes,” answered Leslie, “I quite understand how you feel about the matter, and I feel quite as anxious as you do about it; more so, possibly, since it is I who am responsible for the man’s condition. I shall be bitterly grieved if he proves to be seriously injured; but in any case I hope you will understand that it was impossible for me to allow him to retain possession of his revolver. He had clearly conceived an extraordinary aversion for me, and exhibited it without restraint. I believe that when he fired at me he fully intended to kill me, if he could, and I was compelled to act in self-defence. If a man allows his temper to get the better of him to that extent, he must take the consequences. But here we are,” as he threw open the door of Miss Trevor’s cabin, “and that, I take it, is the medicine-chest;” pointing to a fairly large chest standing against the bulkhead.
“Yes,” assented Purchas, “that’s the chest. Better have it out of this into the main cabin, hadn’t we? Then we shan’t be obliged to disturb the lady whenever we want to get at it.”
“Certainly,” agreed Leslie; “I was about to suggest it.”
And therewith the two men seized, each of them, a handle and carried the box into the main cabin, placing it conveniently for pushing it under the table, out of the way, when not required. The chest was unlocked, and they threw it open, disclosing an interior fitted with a tray on top, which contained a long tin tubular case labelled “Diachylon Plaster,” surgical scissors, surgical needles, rolls of bandage, and numerous other surgical instruments and appliances; while, underneath the tray, the body of the chest was full of jars and bottles containing drugs, each distinctly labelled, and each fitted into its own special compartment. There was also in the chest a book setting forth in detail the symptoms of nearly every imaginable disease, with its appropriate treatment, and also the proper course to pursue in the event of injury. The book was furnished with a very complete index, to facilitate prompt reference.
This book they took out and laid open upon the cabin table, now spread with the breakfast equipage. Anxiously they pored over its pages, finding more than one reference that seemed fairly to fit the case; and at length Leslie, to whose judgment the mate seemed disposed to defer, decided upon a treatment, which they proceeded forthwith to act upon. It consisted in the administration of a draught, and the application of a blister; and owing to the absolute insensibility of the skipper and his consequent powerlessness to assist in any way it was a somewhat lengthy job; but they completed it at last, and then went to breakfast.
As it was not expected that any visible result of their treatment would become apparent for the first hour or so, they did not visit the skipper at the conclusion of the meal; but Purchas went to his cabin and turned in, leaving Leslie in charge of the deck—the latter undertaking to call the mate at seven bells, in time to take the meridian altitude of the sun at noon, for the determination of the brig’s latitude.
During the time that Leslie had been occupied below he had been conscious of the fact that the breeze was freshening, as was evidenced by the increasing heel of the brig and her growing liveliness of movement; and when at length he went on deck and relieved the carpenter, who had been temporarily in charge, he found quite a smart breeze blowing from about due east, and the brig, with her weather-braces slightly checked, and everything set, to her royals, staggering along, with a great deal of fuss and much churning up of water about her bluff bows, at a speed of some six knots. He glanced aloft and saw that her topgallant-masts were whipping and buckling like fishing-rods.
“Hillo, Chips,” he said good-humouredly, “so you are one of the carrying-on school, I see. But what about those sticks aloft; aren’t you trying them rather severely? Of course you ought to know their condition better than I do; but it looks to me as though you are giving them rather more than they ought to be asked to do.”
“Oh, they’re goodish sticks, sir, are them topgallant-masts, and the skipper’s a rare hand for carryin’ on; she ain’t no clipper, as I dare say you’ve noticed, sir; but the cap’n makes a p’int of gettin’ every inch out of her as she’s capable of doin’ of. All the same, sir, I believe it’s about time them royals was took in.”